I know a lot of Phil supporters will find this outrageous, but I believe that it will be a good time to say goodbye to Phil Jackson. The triangle offense just isn’t what it used to be. Players these days aren’t as smart as the players 10-15 years ago because talent and skill has superseded the importance of basic fundamentals. The game is more geared to a European style, with a four man spread, drive and kicks and pick and rolls, as the Mavericks showed us all. Another problem I’ve had with the triangle is the lack of activity that generally happens around the trade deadline because of the fact that the triangle is so hard to pick up. Look at Steve Blake, the guy was a shell of himself this whole season, and he said numerous times that he was still trying to learn the offense. When you have players second guessing themselves on whats going on within the offensive set, it’s never good. Players tend to start playing like robots, rather than playing like basketball players. It’s no coincidence that during the Phil era, the pg position has always been the weakest. I know a lot of people will say 11 championships, but like everything else, the game of basketball evolves. Having a pg that can run the offense, dictate tempo, and set the defensive tone nowadays is just as important as having an enforcer down low. This is the reason why I kind of hope we don’t really go for Brian Shaw for the next head coach. If he’s going to go ahead and run the triangle, we’re just going to be seeing the same type of game from these Lakers. I love what Rick Adelman was able to do with Houston, and even though he never beat us, in Sacramento, I feel that he’ll devise a great scheme to go with Kobe and company. The Laker team has great potential to be a very fun team to watch, and although the roster is up in the air, I still feel if anything, we’ll be a lot better next season. Here’s to a great off-season. Let’s prove the haters wrong.